Neverwinter Nights Forum Hacked, EA Accounts Compromised

Another day, another publisher hacked. This time, it's not Sony or SEGA, but EA. Or, to be more specific, Bioware, and their Neverwinter Nights' forums. It might not sound like much, but every regular user of Bioware's forums has an EA Account, containing confidential information such as mailing and billing addresses, not to mention vital in-game progress or purchased products. The publisher has admitted the attack on their forums resulted in a number of EA Accounts being hacked, but information pertaining to credit cards and the like is safe.

On their official Support site, EA detailed the cyber attack in full. The "data breach" only impacted on servers supporting the Neverwinter Nights forums, and EA "acted immediately" to plug the problem reinforce the affected areas. They took measures to disable potentially affected Bioware accounts, and have reset passwords for EA Accounts they believe may have been compromised.

An email will be sent out to all users EA believe were affected by the attack. It's not clear when the emails are to be sent out, but if you've yet to receive one by the end of the day, I think you can count yourself unaffected! EA called the attack on their servers "highly sophisticated" and "unlawful", lamenting that even the best software cannot be expected to perform well 100% of the time.

Detailing the damage in full, EA explain that users contacted about the breach may find their "name, mailing address, billing address, language, game entitlements and games played, and other game-specific account information" affected as a result of the attack. A "small number of users" also had their unencrypted passwords stolen.

EA have advised that registered users check their emails thoroughly for legitimacy, especially those asking for sensitive personal information such as credit card or bank account details. They recommend users frightened of further attacks and loss of data contact OnGuard Online, or EA directly by phone. [EA Support]